[Sparky14]

I've got a hundred or so run hours on my NFB-11, I must say it is outstanding.

 

[vincents]

USB and other experiences with the NFB-11
 
Edoardo - Yes I have been playing through USB as well. 
 
My listening last night concluded that the USB out of my Macbook using Apple Lossless files and being played through PureMusic lacks just a little of high end micro-detail compared to the same track being played out of my CD using Coax/Optical output. (I don't have a cable adapter to enable me to compare usb versus optical from my macbook.) But I am being picky  - I doubt it would be noticeable to anyone not doing direct comparisons. 
 
Obviously these are all 16/44 files. The USB cable I am using is a specialist Cyro-Parts audio one - their inexpensive model (not the super expensive Locus ones).  My amp is a significant tube mofset number feeding floorstanding speakers.  The headphones I am using with it at the moment are my new LCD-2.  
 
The pairing is good for me - much of my music is recently acquired re-mastered CD issues and I also have about 20 entire albums which are 24 bit recordings so the recording quality is generally good - the extra detail of the NFB's 9018 D/A chip complements well with either my tube amp and the LCD-2 which are not as sharp as many other hp. The combination remains very musical at all times.
 
The NFB-11 appears to have plenty of headphone amp power - using the LCD-2 the dial is about 8 pm (using the high gain) or 9 pm (low gain) and I am not known for playing things quietly ! - so heaps of headroom left ! 
 
My experience of the NFB-11 and its Sabre 9018 chip is it is outstanding in all its outputs.
 
Vincent 

 

[Edoardo]

Quote:

USB and other experiences with the NFB-11
 
Edoardo - Yes I have been playing through USB as well. 
 
My listening last night concluded that the USB out of my Macbook using Apple Lossless files and being played through PureMusic lacks just a little of high end micro-detail compared to the same track being played out of my CD using Coax/Optical output. (I don't have a cable adapter to enable me to compare usb versus optical from my macbook.) But I am being picky  - I doubt it would be noticeable to anyone not doing direct comparisons. 
 
Obviously these are all 16/44 files. The USB cable I am using is a specialist Cyro-Parts audio one - their inexpensive model (not the super expensive Locus ones).  My amp is a significant tube mofset number feeding floorstanding speakers.  The headphones I am using with it at the moment are my new LCD-2.  
 
The pairing is good for me - much of my music is recently acquired re-mastered CD issues and I also have about 20 entire albums which are 24 bit recordings so the recording quality is generally good - the extra detail of the NFB's 9018 D/A chip complements well with either my tube amp and the LCD-2 which are not as sharp as many other hp. The combination remains very musical at all times.
 
The NFB-11 appears to have plenty of headphone amp power - using the LCD-2 the dial is about 8 pm (using the high gain) or 9 pm (low gain) and I am not known for playing things quietly ! - so heaps of headroom left ! 
 
My experience of the NFB-11 and its Sabre 9018 chip is it is outstanding in all its outputs.
 
Vincent 

 
 
Thank you very much for the review!|
 

Just one thing: It is very unusual to  prefer a CDplayer rather than a computer as a source... Is making me think whether...
 
- your CDplayer is outstanding
- your computer software lacks in something (unlikely, since you have a Mac)
- the USB input lacks in something
 

 
By the way I'm still looking forward for mine to arrive

 

[.Sup]

I also prefer a CD transport over PC

 

[les_garten]

It is amazing how long people held onto the Edison Wax Cylinder!
 
I hear there are still people who prefer them to CDs, mainly because of their depth, resolution and intense detail.
 

 

[middachten]

Quote:

Just one thing: It is very unusual to  prefer a CDplayer rather than a computer as a source... Is making me think whether...
 
- your CDplayer is outstanding
- your computer software lacks in something (unlikely, since you have a Mac)
- the USB input lacks in something
 

 
By the way I'm still looking forward for mine to arrive

 
I've seen a lot of people preferring SPDIF out from a CD player, compared to USB out from a computer. And Meridian has always made some of the best CD-transports out there......
Your first point may be spot-on, and the last point is likely to play a role to (even A-GD is pretty clear about the possible improvements here with their Digital Interface).

 

 

[noxlord]

It's a well known fact than a mere computer could never achieve the same bit-extracting precision of a CD player. In the computer audio sub-forum, there is horror stories of mixed-up bits and lost frequencies all over the place. Better not go this way.
Analog audio all the way is still the best...  Until you stabilise your equipment with giant marbles, like Patrick82 suggested.
 
Quote:

It is amazing how long people held onto the Edison Wax Cylinder!
 
I hear there are still people who prefer them to CDs, mainly because of their depth, resolution and intense detail.
 

 

[haloxt]

I prefer my $30 cd player spdif rca to my computer usb. This is with computer mildly tweaked to be a better transport .

 

[AVU]

"Every technological step forward is an artistic step backward."
 
It was an idiotic statement when it originated a century ago, and gets no less idiotic with age.  But god knows there are plenty of reasons for people to want to believe it.  

 

[vpsporb]

 
'tho we seem to have drifted slightly.. with the sublime image of the Edison Wax Cylinder! and the slightly disturbing thought of herding Giant Marbles...
Much thanks to vincents and Sparky14 for the latest impressions of the NFB-11.  This sustains me, as I wait the long wait of the Pre-order.
Keep 'em coming.

 

[milosz]

noxlord  posted >>It's a well known fact than a mere computer could never achieve the same bit-extracting precision of a CD player.<<
 
 
What's the source of your "fact?"
 
I suspect this is neither a fact, nor well-known.
 
Please note I have ripped approximately 6,000 CDs to FLAC files- over 2 TB of data- and according to mathematically perfect checksums known for the CDs cataloged by AccurateRip, there were NO errors in any of those rips where the CD was known to AccurateRip, which is the vast majority. Because a computer can read and re-read a CD until it is 100% perfect as shown by the checksum tests in AccurateRip, a ripped file of a CD is actually MORE LIKELY to be bit-perfect than a CD read by a player on the fly in which some BLER (block error rate) is almost certain to exist- even in very costly transports. Please see this thread in Head-Fi which instructs you in the method of doing bit-perfect ripping: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/432856/how-to-do-a-bit-perfect-rip-of-my-cd-s
 
Reading data off the Adaptec RAID array where I store my music files yields an unrecoverable error rate of approximately  1 in 100 trillion bytes. Do the math:  that's one error every 36 years of continuous 44.1 khz stereo playback.   Pressed CDs in the finest players will exhibit an unrecoverable error rate of about 3 per disc. (A CD player will repeat a data block if it encounters a C1 error. Read the Red Book standard which defines CD encoding and playback.)  Once again, do the math.  Assuming a disc is 60 minutes long, that means reading music files from my RAID array is 944,766 times more statistically accurate than CD playback. (Assuming playback consists of one-pass reading off optical media in real time, which is how CD players and transports work.) See http://club.myce.com/f43/c1-error-rates-pressed-vs-cd-r-85030/
 
There are various measures you can take with a PC to ensure that these bits are delivered accurately to your D/A converter. USB is more prone to errors it's true, especially in timing, but there are quite a few other methods beyond USB to connect your lossless files to your DAC. 
 
So I think your "fact" regarding accuracy of  bit extraction and presentation to the DAC doesn't really hold up, well known or not.
 

 

[noxlord]

Just so the thread say focused, I tried the USB input of my NFB-11 today and it worked wonderfully, no glitches or skips. Only the same acoustical goodness I get from the coax spdif of my Xonar STX.
 
 
 
milosz, my statement was sarcastic ... but it's not fun anymore if I have to explain it ...
 
Quote:

noxlord  posted >>It's a well known fact than a mere computer could never achieve the same bit-extracting precision of a CD player.<<
 
 
What's the source of your "fact?"
 
I suspect this is neither a fact, nor well-known.
 
Please note I have...
 
[...]
 
So I think your "fact" regarding accuracy of  bit extraction and presentation to the DAC doesn't really hold up, well known or not.
 

 

[Carlsan]

A couple of questions here to the group. I have an Audio-gd Compass, someone posted in an earlier thread that going from the Compass to the NFB-11 would probably not be worthwhile for the minor improvement in sound quality.
 
But would that include the use of current high end headphones? I have a Beyer Tesla T1 on the way and am on the waiting list for the LCD-2's. Anyone have thoughts on if the NFB-11 would work much better with these newer headphones than the Compass?
 
 

 

[les_garten]

Quote:

Just so the thread say focused...

 

It's impossible to keep me focused.
 
I'm off my Adderalll again...

 

[les_garten]

Quote:

A couple of questions here to the group. I have an Audio-gd Compass, someone posted in an earlier thread that going from the Compass to the NFB-11 would probably not be worthwhile for the minor improvement in sound quality.
 
But would that include the use of current high end headphones? I have a Beyer Tesla T1 on the way and am on the waiting list for the LCD-2's. Anyone have thoughts on if the NFB-11 would work much better with these newer headphones than the Compass?
 
 

Hmmm, I don't have the NFB-11.  But have the FUN and Sparrow, and other stuff.  They are both a little different from the Compass. 
 
They both are not as neutral as the Compass to me.  They have a kind of warmish reverb to them.  Hard to describe.
 
I could have been happy keeping my Compass.  I sold it because I had stuff I wasn't using.
 
Keep that in mind as you contemplate a step.  You have a nice piece of gear now.  If you make a jump, I would make it a big one, like a Phoenix.
 
Just my 2 cents...